County, insurer to pay $15.5 million in Slevin jail case

LAS CRUCES — A $22 million verdict against Doña Ana County in the case of a former inmate who languished for months in solitary confinement in the jail will be reduced, the county announced Tuesday.

As part of a settlement, the county will pay $15.5 million of the judgment, decided by a federal jury in January 2012.

County officials said its insurer with New Mexico Association of Counties will pay $6 million of the new amount, but the county "will pay the remainder out of cash reserves," according to a statement.

County officials contended the dollar amount they must pay "will not affect the long-term integrity or financial stability of Doña Ana County."

Interim County Manager Sue Padilla said that of the $9.5 million that will come directly from the county's coffers, the county will pay $6 million this week. Another $3.5 million will be paid within 60 days, she said.

"We've got some hospital funds we'll be using from the hospital lease," she said, asked about the specific source of the dollars.

Padilla referenced the county's involvement in leasing Memorial Medical Center facilities to a private provider about a decade ago.

For comparison, the $9.5 million is about 7 percent of the county's budget for the year ending June 30, according to Sun-News records.

Deep regrets

After an arrest in August 2005 for suspected DWI, Slevin was booked into the county jail, where he remained through June 2007.

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His mental and physical state deteriorated. Startling before-and-after pictures prompted a public outcry.
"The Board of County Commissioners deeply regrets the harm Mr. Slevin suffered during this period," officials said in their statement.

Slevin's attorney, Matthew Coyte of Albuquerque, said it took county officials "a long time to reach that conclusion."

"I'm hopeful no one in that jail now is sitting there and suffering like Mr. Slevin was," he said. "I would hope this kind of verdict would prevent it from happening again and give some meaning to what Mr. Slevin went through."

The County Commission had appealed the federal court verdict to the U.S. Court of Appeals. A mediation process resulted in the reduced award, officials said. Had the county continued the appeal, it might have had to pay the full $22 million, plus "interest, attorneys' fees and costs," a news release stated.

"The total could have reached in excess of $24 million," according to the statement. "The county was not in a financial position to bear that kind of burden without the certainty of adverse implications to staffing and key program provisions."

County Commissioner Karen Perez in an interview said the County Commission opted not to risk that "potential of incurring $24 million if things didn't go our way."

"It's like every settlement; we negotiated with the other side, and that's as low as we could get it," she said. "We made the best decision we could in what was a heartbreaking situation."

While the county is not expecting to cut positions or services because of the verdict's impact, vacancies might have to be left unfilled in the coming year to meet required state reserve levels, Perez said. And Perez said any increases in spending are unlikely.

The settlement may have an impact on two county projects in the works, a new 911 dispatch building and a new crisis triage center, a facility to temporarily house mentally ill residents in custody of law enforcement.

"It's going to take some hard work to get where we need to be in terms of expansion of services," Perez said. "We're going to be pinching pennies."

In recent years, the county's reserves have been as high as three times the state-required amounts.

In all, $15.5 million of the original verdict were to compensate for mental injuries Slevin suffered, Coyte said. The remainder was for punitive damages — essentially the amount eliminated in the settlement.

"The case itself is sad; the result itself is sad," Perez said. "It's a heartbreaking situation all the way around."

Improvements

County officials highlighted a number of improvements that have been made to the county detention center including a hefty increase in its budget, from $12.7 million in 2006 to $23.5 million in the current year. More staffing, training and improved access to healthcare for inmates were among them.

The facility is becoming a model in the state and also "on track" to get its first national accreditations from the National Commission on Correctional Health Care and the American Jail Association, according to a news release.

"While we believe the Slevin award was excessive, we respect our judicial system and the role of juries to award damages," the statement said. "In the wake of this large settlement, we can say definitively that we have learned from the past."

The county also recognized Detention Center Director Chris Barela, saying he has been the "driving force for ongoing improvements in staffing and services," and former jail Medical Director Dan Zemek, who was recognized in 2007 by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill for improvements in the facility.

Barela and Zemek, who were at the facility during Slevin's detention, both came under scrutiny in the federal trial.

Perez said she's "confident" in the detention center staff and the county will "pull together" going forward.

"We will make it work," she said.

A look back

Slevin, who had a history of depression, was held in solitary confinement for most of his stay, and his condition deteriorated as the time lapsed, according to his civil complaint.

At the 18-month mark, he was sent to the state's mental health hospital in Las Vegas, at which point he had an overgrown beard, untreated dental problems and "complained of bedsores and a fungus on his skin," according to court documents. And, he was "not alert to time or situation."

His status improved while at the psychiatric hospital, and he was released after two weeks to the county jail.

Eventually, Slevin's charges were dismissed in June 2007, after he was found incompetent to stand trial by a state judge. But Slevin's attorney contended that neglectful treatment at the jail left him with lasting psychiatric damage.

Diana Alba Soular can be reached at (575) 541-5443; follow her on Twitter @AlbaSoular